Day 57 in NICU-8 Weeks Old Today

November 16th 2015

8 Weeks Old Today

On Abby's 8 week old birthday she got moved to a private room! They needed to switch some nurses around and asked me if I wanted a private room. Abby was stable enough to get a private room and wow are they huge compared to where we were. It's so much more private which is great for trying to breastfeed. 

Abby is also 3 lbs and 15 oz today and the physical therapist came in and taught me how to give a massage. Massaging preemies can help with weight gain and we are all about that. Hoping with the massage she will tip the scale tomorrow and be 4 lbs! Grow Abby Grow!

fancy new room

Day 56 in NICU

November 15th 2015

Sunday Sunday

Another Sunday Funday for the family. Kids always get so excited to see Abby. When we got there the eye doctor was doing Abby's eye exam so Emma and daddy got to watch. It's not very pleasant to watch as they pry open their little eyes and it tires them out. Afterwards Emma got to touch her sister's head and she was so excited to tell me about it when she came back. The exam went well and she looks good. She just has premature eyes and the doctor will follow-up in two weeks. Trey and I went back to see her and he was so excited. He climbed into the chair and was asking to touch her. He kept saying, "awww so cute". It melts my heart how sweet he is to his baby sister. 

After the eye exam she got a bath by our favorite nurse Jennifer. She was so sleepy she slept through the bath. No trying to feed today as she was just too tired after the eye exam. Poor peanut.

She was so sleepy after eye exam

Big Belly

someone got in trouble....  ;)

Day 55 in NICU

November 14th 2015

Today we visited Abby a little later as Emma had a soccer game today. She really gets excited to go but just won't play when we get there. It's pretty funny but frustrating at the same time. She cries and just lays on the field. Looking at these pictures just makes me crack up! Maybe next year...


Abby still weighs 3 lbs and 11 oz but she did gain 20 grams. She also is no longer in the 10th percentile for weight and is now in the 15th percentile! Grow Abby grow.  Bill and I went up today and I tried breastfeeding but Abby quickly fell asleep so we just did Kangaroo care.

Day 54 in NICU

November 13th 2015

33 Weeks Gestational Age

&

Abby's First Bottle

I had plans to meet with Sarah the speech therapist today to evaluate her ability to swallow. I was so excited to feed Abby for the first time but nervous as it's a lot more complicated in a preemie.  The speech therapist was amazing and walked me through the whole process. Sarah monitored her breathing as she sucked and swallowed some milk. Abby is a great communicator and raises her eyes when she becomes overwhelmed. Abby did great and took 15 ml her first time! This is a lot and we were warned that not every feeding would be so successful. Speech felt comfortable with her ability to swallow and breath, so she let Dr. Su know that she was ready to start oral feedings. We get to breastfeed once a day and bottle once a day. This does not take place of her tube feedings as she is still in the learning stage. We are trying to build a positive feeding experience for Abby and not rush her so she can learn healthy boundaries. Her pacifier size also got moved up to help her develop her suck. Looking forward to feeding Abby has this will be such a bonding moment.

Sarah listening to Abby breath and swallow while she took her first bottle

Day 53 in NICU

November 12th, 2015

Grandma Visits

Today Grandma got to see Abby for the first time since her birth. How much she has grown since then. She weighs 3 lbs 11 oz today, a lot larger than the 1 pound 11 ounces since she left. Abby had a good day and we enjoyed the visit but needed to get home to take Emma to soccer practice and eat some good bbq with the family afterwards. 

Day 52 in NICU

November 11 2015

Grandma Arrives Today

Abby had another eye exam today and it was fuzzy. Not sure what that means but we will have a repeat in about one week. Got to visit with Dr. Su today and we talked about transferring her to CTMC now that she is getting a little better. Not sure if this will ever happen but would be nice to have baby girl 5 minutes away instead of an hour one way. Abby weighed 3lbs 8 oz today and is tolerating all her feedings well.

I got the okay to nuzzle with Abby today aka try breast feeding. Abby did latch on and took a couple of sucks. This was pretty exciting to see that she was interested.  Looking forward to this bounding experience with my baby girl.

Picked up Grandma today on the way home from the hospital. Excited for her to see how much Abby has grown.

Day 51 in NICU

November 10th 2015

Abby is doing well. Lasts nights visit was good and Abby's nurse was one of my old nursing students. She was amazing and moved Abby's feeding tube to her nose. Abby's little mouth is so cute now that she has her tube out. She weighs 3lbs 5 oz today and her feeding have been increased to 30ml/hr. Her caffeine and protein has also been increased as she has gained weight.

Speech therapy visited today and introduced the bottle to Abby. She evaluated her swallow and monitored her vitals signs. I wasn't there for the evaluation but got to visit with Sarah the speech therapist. We scheduled a time on Friday to try her first bottle feed. Looking forward to it.